NT

by ibrahimtoronto

I was 18 and had a bit of trouble getting away from strict Islamic parents to go to a rock show but once I was out the door I was free...

It was at the Canadian National Exhibition -- sort of a Toronto tradition -- fair, rides and cotton candy vibe. You go with yr parents every summer (Labour Day usually) until you're 14 or so.

Got there in the afternoon and heard the pounding of a high pitched snare drum in the air... then the sound of a wah wah guitar... Mysterious Ways? Got my friend to run with me through the crowds to check out soundchecks... two bits got played during soundcheck (sans Bono) - Acrobat and So Cruel - the two tracks that never got played live. We hung out behind the fence and soon enough a dude in a silver vest and fly shades comes zooming by in a golf cart waving hi in the goofiest way... That was Bono. Edge came up to the fence and said a tentative hello. One of the roadies was kind enough to give us official Zoo TV Dollar Bills. I haven't spent mine yet...

The show was a real change from the night previous... much much wilder... Right from Bush Snr. rocking us to "Zoo Station" to "Bullet" it was all on fire and smoke was everywhere it seemed. The thing that struck me most even before the show started was how virtually everything around seemed to be part of the schtick - the hot dog vendors, the radio controlled plane flying overhead to the Zoo Confessional -- all the distractions around the venue seemed perfectly in place. Most of "Bullet" was aired at the end of the Rock the Vote special that aired months later and the ferris wheel peeking out at the side was just as I remembered. Brilliant. Eno must've been very pleased. I remember the band kicking it up a notch with the ladies too... Lots of action during "Tryin'." "Let's go to Vegas, let's get married... for a while!" was the intro to With or Without You. Dry humping a girl during the Mirrorball dementia of Desire was just hilarious! I'm sure Bono got an earful from the wife for that one!

An absolute scorcher of a show despite a bald patch at the back of the stadium. The previous night was full but just tense in that dreadful Toronto way -- people standing there with their arms crossed and staring blankly. I'm exaggerating but you get my point!

My ears were ringing and my eyes peeled back... I never did recover from this one and I don't think I want to!

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